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[Risk Legacy PbP] Game 1: The Victor Emerges [BEWARE SPOILERS]

WARNING: Risk Legacy is a game about exploration and discovery. Reading about the game's many secrets will ruin your own experience. If you ever plan on playing this game in person, I advise you stay away from this thread. Elements of this game will be spoiled. You have been warned.

In 2128, after years of global warfare, theoretical physicists joined together with astronomers, engineers, and particle physicists to announce a breathtaking breakthrough: the ability to create new Earths. Instead of warring over ever-scarcer resources and ever-diminishing supplies, factions and populations could transport to a verdant Earth, untouched by humans. With great fanfare, the colonists departed for the first earth clone created, ready to leave war behind. It took two months for the first battle to take place. It turns out that factions weren’t so ready to share, to give up past grudges, or to forgive trespasses. As future Earths were colonized, future wars followed. You have one of these Earths. It is waiting for your story, your wars. As of now there are no cities, no wars, even the continents are unnamed.

But all that will change.

The wars will come.

They always do.

What is Risk Legacy?

Risk Legacy is an exciting twist on the old and oft-maligned Risk series of board games. Unlike other board games, Legacy is about permanence. The decisions you make in the first game could have consequences in the seventh. While the core mechanics are very much classic Risk, a lot of tweaking has been done in Legacy to fix the flaws of its father. While turn-to-turn troop movement is important, you always have to consider what the results of this game will mean in the next. Should you take a chance and try to win? You could win, but failure means you let an opponent win that you'd rather not. By sacrificing your win this game, the board state could shift in a less detrimental way for you.

Either way, the game will shift. Six packets sit sealed, waiting for certain conditions to be satisfied before they open. Once they do, more than just the map will change. New rules will be introduced, and old rules will be altered. Sometimes, not always in your favor. So, do you rush and try to open the packets, or wait for them to open under more natural terms? It is, like every, a bit of a risk.

Because of the nature of this, I am looking for very specific players to play this game.

1. You could not otherwise play this game. Risk Legacy is an insane experience, and a play-by-post experience does not come even close to the physical one. However, an experience is better than none at all, so please only sign up if you think that you will never have the consistent group required to get the proper experience. The rest of you: support the developers and buy a copy of the game. It is fantastic, and you will thank me for not sullying the experience with an inferior PbP version.
2. You are ignorant of the game. Obviously you shouldn't have played before, but maybe you ran into spoilers? This is wildly unfair, and I reserve the right to kick you out if I suspect you know more about the game than you are letting on.
3. You're in it for the long-haul. Risk Legacy is best played with as consistent a group as possible over 15 games. I understand that this is quite a commitment, and do not expect to maintain the same five people for the whole ride. That said, when it comes to picking players, I will be favoring the consistent. If you drop out and a new guy then goes on to play four games to your two, then the new guy is getting picked over you. Them's the breaks.

Rules
"Warfare has its own brutal elegance. Regardless of nation, creed, or leader: each army dances to war's unique rhythm."
-Lt. Ericson, Imperial Balkania

Risk is still fundamentally easy to play, but the rules will change as we go along. Here are the base rules. Spoilers, along with the updated rules will always go in the second post so people don't accidentally stumble upon them.

Starting the Game
Turn order is chosen at random. The player that goes first selects his or her faction and then places his or her HQ and starting troops (8) into one territory. Proceed until all players have chosen a starting territory and faction.

Legal Starting Territory: Any territory that is unoccupied and not marked in any way (scars, cities, etc.) An unoccupied major city is always a legal starting territory for the player that founded it, regardless of any marks present. You cannot place your HQ into a starting territory that is adjacent to an already-placed HQ, even if your would-be starting territory is a major city founded by yourself.

Players each receive one Scar card. If there are not enough Scar cards for each player, then Scar cards are not passed out. Reveal the first four resource cards.

Each player that has won receives a missile token for each win. Everyone else receives one red star token.

Turn PhasesObject of the Game: Players win by collecting four red stars. You can do this by trading in four resource CARDS or by controlling HQs (One HQ = One Red Star).

1. Start of Turn: You may trade in four resource cards for a red star token (only once per turn). Note that this is CARDS and not resources themselves (the coins on a resource card).
If the player has a Scar card that can be played at the start of a turn, then this is when you do so.

2. Join the War or Recruit: If you have been knocked out of the game (control no territories), you may rejoin the war by placing half of your starting troops into a legal starting territory. If there is no such territory, then you are eliminated from the game.

If you haven't been knocked out of the game, then count your total territories. Add to that number the total population of all cities you control. Divide that number by three, and round it down. That is how many troops you recruit this turn. If you control all the territories in a continent, then add its bonus to your total recruitment. If you have named any continent you control, then its bonus is increased by one. Finally, before recruiting, you may discard resource cards to increase your recruitment total further. Count up all the coins on the cards you are trading in, and then the corresponding troops to your recruitment total. Discard territory cards, and place coin cards on the top of the coin card deck.

Example: Dave has 10 territories and two minor cities (2 population), and controls South America. He then trades in four coins worth of resource cards. He would gain four troops from his holdings ([10 + 2] ÷ 3 = 4) plus two troops for controlling South America. Finally, he gains seven troops for his resource trade-in. Altogether, Dave would recruit 13 troops this turn (4 + 2 + 7).

You may place recruited troops into any territory you control.

3. Expand and Attack: Expanding is simple. Simply take troops from one territory and move them into an unoccupied adjacent territory. You must leave at least one troop in the origin territory (you cannot abandon a territory). Unoccupied cities, however, require you to sacrifice troops to take out local resistance. When expanding into an occupied city, lose troops equal to the city's population (you cannot expand into a city if no troops would survive). For example, if you expand three troops into an unoccupied city with a population of two, then two troops will be lost. You will control that territory with one troop.

Attacking is when you move into an occupied territory. Announce the origin of the attack and its target and how many troops will be attacking it (you must leave at least one troop behind in the origin territory). You roll one die for each attacking troop (maximum of three) and the defender chooses to roll one or two die (can only roll one die if there is a lone troop defending). Each side rolls and then compares their two highest rolls against each other. Lose one troop for each roll in which you lost, and the defender loses one troop for each roll in which he or she lost (defender wins ties). Continue until you feel like stopping or wipe out all defending troops. If the latter, then move as many troops as you like into the defending territory. The minimum you can move in is equal to the dice you rolled in the final battle, and the maximum you can move in is all your troops in the origin territory except for one. Two facilitate online play, the attacker will roll for both sides and the defender will always roll two dice if able. The defender will, however, roll in the event that there is a decision he or she can make (scar cards, etc.)

Example: Dave attacks with three troops against Sue. He rolls a 4, 5, and 1. Sue rolls a 5 and 3. They both tie with a 5, so Dave loses one troop (defender wins ties), and Dave's 4 is higher than Sue's three, so she loses one troop.

There is no limit to the number of attacks you can make in a turn if you have enough troops to do so. If you successfully conquer a territory with an HQ, then you gain that HQ (and thus one red star) so long as you hold that territory.

4. Maneuver: You may move all but one troop from one of your territories to another of your territories, so long as the two are connected by friendly territories. You may do this ONCE per turn.

Example: Dave has four troops in territory #5 and just one troop in territory #1. He wants to beef up his defenses in #1, so he takes two troops from #5 and places them in #1. Since he controls territory #2, this maneuver is legal.

5. End of Turn

Scars: Some scars have effects at the end of the turn. This is when they trigger.

Draw a card: If you conquer a territory (successfully attack a territory until you control it), then you are eligible for a resource card. Look at the four territories available. If you control any of them, you must pick one amongst those and take it. If you control none of those territories, then pick a coin card. If the coin card deck is empty, then you get nothing. When the coin card deck depletes for the first time, the player with the most territories gains a red star.

Your turn is now over.

End Game
"Generations will pass, but the world will never forget of our victory."
-Chief Tavof, Enclave of the Bear

When the game ends, the winner and un-eliminated players will pick their end-of-game rewards.

Winner: The winner gets to sign the game board. You may then choose amongst the following rewards. Rewards are finite, and cannot be chosen once they run out. Numbers in parentheses show how much of each reward is available.

Found a Major City(5): choose a territory without a city. From now on, you may choose this territory as a legal starting location.
Name a Continent(6): choose a continent without a name and name it. From now on, that continent's troop bonus is increased by one for you and only you.
Alter a Continent(One of Each): Apply a modifier to a continent without a modifier. From now on that continent's troop bonus is either increased of decreased by one for all players.
Fortify a City(5): Select any city (even if already fortified) and fortify it. Fortified cities receive +1 to all defense rolls so long as it has at least one pip left. Fortifications start with 10 pip and loses one each time it is attacked by three or more troops. If a fortified city gets a new fortification, then it has 10 pips and the older pips are lost.
Erase a Scar(4): Select a scarred territory. It's scar is considered gone, and future scars may not be placed here. The region is once again a legal starting territory so long as there is no city mark.
Destroy a Resource Card(∞): Select a territory card and destroy it. It is forever removed from the game. Mark the territory with an X to indicate that it has no corresponding resource card.

Held On: After the winner selects a reward, players that lost (but were not eliminated) may chose one of the two options. Rewards are finite, and cannot be chose once they run out. Numbers in parentheses show how much of each reward is available.

Found a Minor City(9): choose a territory without a city. This territory now has a minor city, and is no longer a legal starting territory (if was was previously)
Add a Coin(35): Select a resource card and add one coin to it. In future games, that resource card can be turned in for more troops.

Campaign's End
"It is our hope that, at the end of all this, we can come to call this world 'Home.'"
-Generäle Friedman, Die Mechaniker

After 15 games have been played, the player who has won the most may name the planet. In the event of a tie, roll to see who names the planet. Future games may be played, and changes to the world may occur. End-of-game rewards, however, are no longer distributed.

Posts

The World So FarCurrently the world is largely at peace. Rumors are spreading, however, of the burgeoning world powers simultaneously raising massive armies in the hopes of swiftly finishing off their enemies and hoping to spread their influence worldwide. Many pray that these rumors are just that: dreadful gossip that can't be possible. For if it is, then there is no telling how long the ensuing conflict could last...

Packets
Six packets remain.

1. Open when a player signs the board a second time.
2. Open when all nine minor cities have been founded.
3. Open when a player is eliminated for the first time.
4. Open when the World Capital is about to be founded.
5. Open when three missiles have been used in a single battle.
6. Open when a player has a missile and is about to recruit 30+ troops.
?. Do Not Open. Ever.

The Factions
Despite being in its infancy, this world already has its share of power players. Some are old baggage from the original Earth, whereas a few are new faces that have risen in the new world. Though in their infancy, these factions will grow and develop in reaction to a changing world. In time, these factions will become true titans battling each other for dominance of the world.

Die Mechaniker
"We are the guardians of this fledgling planet. The vigilant mother that protects her maturing cub."
-Generäle Friedman

Initially comprised of old-world soldiers looking for work, Die Mechaniker compensated for its small numbers with military experience that its enemies were lacking. Instead of messy attacks on others, Die Mechaniker found crucial locations and defended them with a vigor unseen in other armies. By holding onto fortresses, supply depots, and other areas of importance, Die Mechaniker was eventually able to train new soldiers and slowly increase its numbers. Happy with the new growth, its leadership realized that the world would never truly be safe unless its many threats were neutralized. The attacks were merely symptoms of a larger disease, and Die Mechaniker saw itself as the cure. In reaction to Die Mechaniker's new-found aggression, many citizens were quick to turn on them, costing the faction a good chunk of their former holdings. Nonetheless, Die Mechaniker's superior training and remarkable ability to defend vital locations has resulted in much success in its war efforts, and its actions have drawn a number of supporters that see the faction as a champion of the people. Die Mechaniker now seeks to save the entire world, whether the world needs it or not.

PowersEntrenched: Die Mechaniker bases are known to be nearly impenetrable. Your starting HQ is always treated as FORTIFIED (+1 to both dice) when you defend it.

Games
1. SeGaTai, Territory 39

Enclave of the Bear
"We shall prove that flesh and bone is stronger than any metal."
-Warrior Doell

Many groups had their own opinions about how to best prevent the errors that led to the fleeing of Earth Alpha. One of the more vocal of these groups was the Enclave of the Bear, a group that blamed much of the failings of the old earth on an over-reliance on technology. The Enclave was unique from similar groups, however, in its belief that scientific advancements should not be totally shunned, but instead redirected to enhance humanity. Genetics should strengthen a human's natural body, and other technologies should be downplayed if not ignored entirely. For the Bears, the body was the best tool for any job, and science should make that tool even better. The Enclave was seen as too unreasonable by average citizens, but the group was known for its charismatic leadership and able to gain growing membership. Slowly, the group garnered a large following, and the group came to the conclusion that reason alone would not be sufficient. Using the fruits of their recently acquired biotechnology (including their now infamous bear mounts), the Enclave would demonstrate first-hand the true power of the body, and all that opposed it would be crushed underfoot.

PowersSurprise Attack: Enclave ambushes are feared by many. The defender subtracts 1 from his or her lower defense die in the first territory you attack during your turn.

Games
1. MrBody, Territory 13

Imperial Balkania
"Order is the natural way of things. Even the beasts follow an orderly, if primitive, set of rules."
-Col. Taylor

The Imperials were clear in their ambitions from the start: a refusal to work together led to the downfall of the old world. Not heard of in the old world, it is unknown exactly how the Imperials got their funding and manpower, but they were an early military presence in the new earth. It is rumored that many former military and lawmakers of the old world rejected a young Die Mechaniker's lack of focus and pooled their own resources to form an army with clear goals and philosophies. Wishing to create a unified world government, the Imperials were initially treated warmly by the citizens of towns they protected, but eventually would come to be loathed as the Imperial presence took over the local governments and demand conscription into their armies. Nonetheless, many early settlements would be absorbed into the Imperial Balkania's forces, allowing it to grow into the global force it is today. Finding themselves with a large, impeccably trained army, the Imperials began their world-wide campaign.

PowersForagers: All Imperial soldiers know how to find resources regardless of location. You still draw a resource card at the end of a turn where you expanded into 4+ territories, even if you didn't conquer a territory.

Games
1. Hippie, Territory 21

Khan Industries
"My reason for joining? Look, in this world you don't get picky over something like politics. It's safe and it pays well."
-Pvt. Davids

The wealthy were not spared from the evacuation of the old world. Those who were able to bring in some of their old holdings had a considerable head-start on the new earth, and were quickly grew afraid of outside threats. Without a strong government to protect them, many of the richest citizens in the new world were quick to offer overly high wages to anyone willing to act as security. The result were cobbled-together security forces that were mostly effective thanks to the quality equipment their employers were able to afford. It wouldn't be long before these security forces were form a crude union to further ensure their safety and employment. Eventually, an entrepreneur by the name of Khan would eventually turn this loose union of security forces into a global army of mercenaries working to protect the holdings of the world's richest. No longer simply protecting their wealthy benefactors, Khan Industries now actively hunts down the world's largest threats to ensure the safety of their contractors. It is rumored that Khan Industries has ulterior motives for these more aggressive mission, but only at the end of the wars will that be known for sure.

Power:Fat Paychecks: Khan Industries has the spare finances to recruit a few extra soldiers here and there. At the start of your turn, place one troop in each territory that has an HQ you control.

Games
1. Tayrun, Territory 14

The Saharan Republic
"Chances are they'll go broke before they develop the good sense to react more quickly."
-Privateer Sabba

Named after a former nation of the old world, the Republic is less of a nation and more of a large network of thieves, mercenaries, and raiders. They quickly gained a reputation by being able to raid locations before local law agencies could react. Their illicit riches empowering them to take on increasingly larger targets, the Republic became infamous for exploiting the weaknesses of seemingly invincible armies. Though still loosely organized, the Republic has slowly begun to solidify into something more than just a band of criminals. Leadership remains decentralized, but discussion regarding the Republic's future has grown in frequency amongst its members. Growing wealthy off a slew of successful campaigns, the Republic's future, whatever it may be, seems to be bright regardless. Republic settlements are on the rise, and the group as a whole is attracting hostile attention from other major forces in the world. Ultimately, the Republic may be unable to avoid being dragged into the coming global conflict.

PowersSwift Movements: The Republic's armies are some of the fastest out there. You can make your maneuver at any point during your turn.

I would be really interested in this and I fit your criteria perfectly, but I probably wont be able to start until tuesday or so due to moving tomorrow and having to ship my computer separately. So I guess Ill Reserve for now

I fit your criteria for the game and would be willing to play for the long haul.
If able to choose, I'd like Imperial Balkania because the very notion of a *Balkanized* Imperium is hilarious. Then again... the USA could fit that description...

I'd love to sign up, since I don't know if I'll ever get a chance to play this properly. Job+major time zone difference would probably make my turns slow and inconsistent, though. Can I be on reserve instead?

Signing Up I've played actual Risk start to finish one time, like 6 years ago. This has been on my radar for quite some time, but unless I haven't found a gaming group (mostly due to lack of trying) to join. Also you need an ironically named despot in this game.

I used to play a lot of Risk (and even Risk 2210, though I only know Risk Legacy by reputation) in college. I'd really like to give this a serious go, even though the Risk ship has long-since sailed for my friends. Signing Up.

The players have been chosen! The rest of you will be put on the reserve list should someone be unable to play.

This is the turn order. Please choose a faction, and then pick a power. Note that the power you do not choose is removed from the game forever. It will NEVER come back, so pick wisely. Once you have done that, please choose a starting territory. That is where your HQ and eight starting troops will go. Also, please check your PM inbox! That is where you will find your one scar card for this games. The effects of scars are permanent. Think very carefully about where you use them.

Once you have chosen the starting territories, I will reveal the first four territory cards. Please create an account at http://handtracker.heroku.com. To facilitate faster play, you need to make sure that, whenever you draw a resource card, you draw a replacement card and announce it in the thread. If you are drawing a coin card instead of a territory card, then make sure you mention the fourth card that is being discarded.

I think, to keep this from being confusing, I will deal with the first couple of resource cards. It'll be much simpler than it sounds, trust me.

Anyways, the turn order.

1. SeGaTai
2. MrBody
3. Tayrun
4. Hippie
5. EvilBadman

SeGaTai - Select your race, power, and starting location.

EDIT: One thing I forgot to mention in the PMs. Scars are destroyed upon use, so there's a finite number of each type. You can save them and make them available in the next game, but there is no guarantee you will get it! In fact, if there's not enough scar cards to go around, then nobody gets a scar card for that game!

That's correct. Factions can switch between players from game-to-game (but it is certainly possible for one player to be very consistent). The powers you are all choosing as permanent. As you can see in the second post of this thread, I'm already deleting the unchosen powers. In the physical game, you are told to throw the powers that don't get picked into the trash.

Reason I joined I was interested in this game but my group was already halfway through their "campaign" by the time I learned of it. This would pretty much be the only avenue I could enjoy a first time fresh game (and let's face it the idea of an interesting game of Risk is just so surreal sounding you know you have to try it).

Still have zero knowledge of any spoilers though.

Based on just the OP and rulebook: predictions!

1. Imperial player will choose the first power. In fact, the first power seems like a much better pick for every faction. I guess if you wanted some wacky wildcard factor you could choose the second ones. Only the Republic powers seem to offer a balanced choice.